Renowned American-Canadian actress Melissa Sue Anderson gained notoriety for her performance in the NBC drama series “Little House on the Prairie.” Melissa was bitten by the acting bug pretty early in life. At the age of eight, her dancing teacher suggested she take acting classes, and she quickly became passionate about the art. In an attempt to help her break free from acting, her family gave her permission to participate in a few advertisements. They were mistaken, though, since she began making appearances on television shows at the age of nine. By the time she was eleven, she had secured a major role—she was cast as Mary Ingalls Kendallin in “Little House on the Prairie.” She continued her studies under the guidance of an on-set tutor while playing the part for seven seasons, eventually earning her high school diploma at the age of fifteen. She pursued other chances in addition to working for “Little House on the Prairie,” making guest appearances in other television series and movies. She chose to put her family first after getting married and ended her acting career, making occasional appearances in TV shows and movies. She is a citizen of Canada and currently resides there.
Early Life & Childhood of Melissa Sue Anderson
On September 26, 1962, Melissa Sue Anderson was born in Berkeley, California. After her parents, James and Marion Anderson, separated when she was thirteen, her mother reared her.
She is the younger of the two children born to her parents; her elder sister, Maureen, is twelve years her senior. Regarding their existence in Berkley, nothing is known.
She was seven years old when the family relocated to Los Angeles in 1970. She also began to experience asthma attacks at some point, and her doctor advised her to start taking dancing lessons as a treatment.
When Mellissa was in elementary school, she began taking dance lessons. She decided to become a dancer pretty quickly because she loved dancing so much. Louis DePrine, her dance instructor, however, had other ideas and convinced her to enroll in acting classes as well.
Melissa Sue Anderson fell in love with acting not long after enrolling in a class, and she began bugging her mother to get her an agent. Marion Anderson eventually gave in, thinking that doing a few advertisements would help her get over her acting habit.
Melissa was quickly well-liked by casting directors and started doing advertisements for Mattel and Sears. Television producers took notice of her early successes as well, and she started her acting career at the age of nine.
Melissa pursued her studies at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in La Canada Flintridge in addition to her acting career, albeit sporadically. Mrs. Minniear served as her professor on set, and she described her as “the ideal fusion of charm and discipline.” Later on, she remarked that she gained a lot of knowledge from her.
She completed her high school education in 1978 and ceased her official schooling. Rather, she kept learning on set from Michael Landon, the co-director and star of “Little House on the Prairie.” Her lot was also appreciated by Landon, who found her curious.
Melissa Sue Anderson: Young Performer
Melissa Sue Anderson, at nine years old, made her television debut in 1972 with a small part in a single “Bewitched” episode. ABC broadcast the episode, “Tabitha’s First Day in School,” on February 12, 1972.
Melissa kept making cameos in little parts, but when she played Millicent in the “Never Too Young” episode of “The Brady Bunch” and planted her first kiss on Bobby, she drew in viewers. The broadcast date was October 5, 1973. She also starred in the television film “Shaft” that same year.
As Mary Ingalls Kendallin in the western drama television series “Little House on the Prairie,” Melissa Sue Anderson landed her first big role in 1974. She played the well-mannered oldest Ingalls daughter in it for seven series in a row (until 1981).
Her character became blind at the conclusion of the fourth season, and she was praised greatly and nominated for an Emmy for portraying a blind person in a realistic way. By the way, none of the actors in this series have received any other Emmy nominations but this one.
She had a great deal of respect for Michael Landon, and he asked her if she would be prepared to play in his autobiographical film, The Loneliest Runner,” in 1976 when she was working on “Little House on the Prairie.” She was thrilled to be asked, and she said yes right away.
On December 20, 1976, NBC aired “The Loneliest Runner,” in which she portrayed Nancy Rizzy, John Curtis’s first girlfriend. She made her NBC debut on the inaugural episode of “The Battle of Network Stars” on November 13, 1976.
She co-starred as Lance Kerwin’s love interest in the television drama series “James at 15” in 1977. She also made an appearance as Kate in the ABC Afterschool Special episode “Very Good Friends.” She was chosen to host the NBC program Circus Lions, Tigers, and Melissa Too in 1977 as well.
She made appearances in one episode of The Love Boat and the second episode of The Hanna-Barbera Happy Hour in 1978. Afterwards, she made appearances in three more episodes of the previously discussed comedy/drama ABC television series, which was set aboard a high-end passenger cruise ship.
She had an appearance in “Survival of Dana” in May 1979 as Dana Lee. She made an appearance in the “Which Mother is Mine?” episode of the “ABC Afterschool Special” that same year, as sixteen-year-old Alexandra. “Little House Years,” “A New Kind of Family,” and “CHiPs” are three further pieces from this year.
She made appearances in two episodes of Fantasy Island (1980) as Amy Marson and Insight (1981) as Mary Beth. She kept appearing on “Little House on the Prairie” on a regular basis as Mary Ingalls Kendallin throughout.
Melissa Sue Anderson As a mature artist
Anderson departed from “Little House on the Prairie” in 1981, but he returned in two episodes of the eighth season. She made three film appearances in 1981 as well: as Maureen Tyler in Advice to the Lovelorn, as Vivian Sotherland in Midnight Offering, and as Virginia Wainwright in Happy Birthday to Me.
She starred in two TV movies in 1982: “An Innocent Love” as Molly Rush and “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends” as Katherine “Kitty” Pryde. She acted in one movie the next year, “First Affair,” playing Toby King.
She played Jenny in the comedic film Chattanooga Choo Choo, which came out in 1984. She also acted in several television shows, including “Finder of Lost Loves” with Nikki Gatos, “Murder, She Wrote” with Eve Crystal, “Glitter” with Elizabeth, and “Hotel” with Cassie Ray.
She made a comeback in a different “Hotel” episode in 1985, playing Anne Goldman. She had a single film role in the following year, “Dark Mansions.” She then made four appearances as Yvette Marcel in “The Equalizer” episodes over 1987–1988.
She had two appearances on “The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents” in 1988–1989: as Julie Fenton in “Murder in Mind” and as Laura Donovan in “VCR – Very Careful Rape.” She also performed in a variety of films at this time, both little and large-screen.
Her two films, “The Suicide Club” and “Far North,” were released in 1988. “Memories of Manon,” “The Return of Sam McCloud,” and “Looking Your Best,” all released in 1989, came after them. Then came “Manuel” (1991) and “Dead Men Don’t Die” (1990).
She mostly focused on raising her family in the 1990s, which is why she didn’t do many movies or TV shows. Animated Stories from the Bible: Music Video – Volume 1 (1994), X-Men (1993–1994), “Burke’s Law” (1994), “Killer Lady” (1995), “Earthquake in New York” (1998), and “Partners” (1999) were among the works completed.
In the 2000 television film “Thin Ice,” Melissa Sue Anderson played Tanya Ferguson, ringing in the new millennium. After that, she took a five-year hiatus to raise her two young children while staying at home.
She had an appearance in the television miniseries “10.5: Apocalypse” in 2006 as First Lady Megan Hollister. She had a cameo in “Crazy Eight” without receiving credit, marking her comeback to the big screen that same year.
She had another uncredited voice appearance in the television movie “Marco Polo” in 2007 as Mother.
She starred in the short film “Marker 187” in 2010. She then acted as Stosh’s mother in an uncredited capacity in the 2014 movie “Veronica Mars.”
In “The Con Is On,” her most recent project, she had a brief cameo as Guest #2. On May 4, 2018, the movie had a limited theatrical run.
Large-scale Works of Melissa Sue Anderson
The most well-known character Melissa Sue Anderson has played is that of Mary Ingalls Kendallin in the American western drama television series “Little House on the Prairie,” which debuted on NBC on September 11, 1974. After seven seasons in a row, she departed the program in 1981; “A Christmas They Never Forgot” was her final episode.
Her autobiographical book “The Way I See It: A Look Back at My Life on Little House,” which was released in 2010, is another one of her well-known works. It discusses the life on the set and her relationships with other stars, providing an insight into the sets of “Little House on the Prairie.”
Individual Life and Heritage of Melissa Sue Anderson
Melissa Sue Anderson wed Michael Sloan, a well-known writer, producer, and director, on March 17, 1990. The two children of the couple are a male named Griffin who was born in 1996 and a daughter named Piper who was born in 1991.
The pair relocated to Canada in 2002 and settled in Montreal, where they still reside. They acquired Canadian citizenship by naturalization on July 1, 2007.
At the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Anderson was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame in 1998.
Random Facts of Melissa Sue Anderson
Anderson had an offer to play Brooke Shields in “The Blue Lagoon” in 1981. However, she turned down the position because she wasn’t ready for the nudity that came with it. A year later, she starred in her first motion picture, “Happy Birthday to Me.”
She put a lot of effort into making her character in “Little House on the Prairie” appear real when it went blind. Even so, she visited the Foundation for the Junior Blind, where she was given detailed instructions on how a young person copes with an unexpected blindness.
Net worth of Melissa Sue Anderson
The estimated net worth of Melissa Sue Anderson is about $2 million.